Fabric guiding device



3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 11, 1 948 [NI/511F028: EV: wajz'izzzezg mww Sept. 27, 1949. E. s'r. PIERRE 2,483,355

FABRIC GUIDING DEVICE Filed March 11, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG-Z.

E. ST. PIERRE FABRIC GUIDING DEVICE Sept. 27, 1949.

Filed March 11, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 & F1613.

Patented Sept. 27, 1949 (STATES OFFICE 2 Claims. (CL-166 1497) Sheer,:cireular knit-hosiery is; generally produced individually asdistinguished-from string work, eachflstockingnbeing runoff the needleswhen completed. When astockingfis begun, the initial fabric is veryshort and: light. As it lengthens, it iSiIIOt likely ..to-.drop into1thecylinder as it would if it wereheavier. but tends to be crowded upwardinto a crushed mass with the result that its loop structure is upset.This is particularly so when the knitting is loose and it must be looseto provide adequate size for the welt or stocking top. To counteractthis, the inside of the upper part of the cylinder has been fitted witha short inwardly extending fin positioned at such an angle that it wipesagainst the fabric and tends to move it downward into the cylinder.However, such a fin cannot begin to act upon the fabric until it hasacquired considerable length and with respect to light fabric, it ismore likely to hold it up than cause it to drop. The device of thisinvention may supplement and. make effective the fin just mentioned orit may be used alone. The form of the device illustrated herein fordescriptive purposes is designed for use on a hosiery knitting machineof the Banner type. However, it can be used on other types of circularhosiery machines or upon circular knitting machines in general.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of certain parts of a Banner knitting machine towhich the invention has been applied;

Fig. 2 is an elevation also illustrating the invention;

Fig. 3 is an elevation illustrating certain of the parts by which thedevice is operated;

Fig. 4 is a detail showing how the invention guides the fabricdownwardly into the cylinder;

Figs. 5 and 6 are, respectively, plan and elevational views showing thedetails of the connections between certain of the operating levers.

As shown in Fig. 1, the device consists of a curved finger I suitablypivoted as at 2 as to be swingable in a plane slightly inclineddownwardly towards the cylinder and so that the end 3 of finger I willfollow an arcuate path across the needle cylinder from the idle positionshown in dotted line in Fig. 1 to the fully operative position shown infull line. In order that the finger may be as close to the knittedfabric as possible I and, if a dial is used so that it can pass betweenthe dial and the cylinder needles, it is preferably positioned so as tocross the needle circle at the point where the needles are lowest, i.e., at their casting off point (see Fig. 4).

Finger I---may be operated, as above described, Icy-mechanism shownin'Figs. 1 2 and 3. It consists "of a =rod' '4; oneendof which ispivotally connected-to the-finger as at 5 and the other'end ofwhichis'pivoted at-one end 6 of a bell'crank I. Attheother ends of'bell cranklis pivotally connected a rod 9 which extends downwardlyto aconnection-I I at one *end' of a- 'pivotedlever I I, At the other endI2, lever II is connected with a red It which extends downwardly to oneend Id of another lever I5, the thin end It of which is connected to arod I! which in turn connects a rocker !8 adapted to be operated by acam drum I9. Preferably, the cam 21] upon this drum is provided with aseries of steps such as 2| and 22 (Fig. 3) so that the finger I can begiven a series of progressive inward movements.

At the start of the stocking, the drum is so arranged that rocker I8rides upon cam 20 so that finger I is in its inactive outward positionshown in dotted line in Fig. 1. Drum I9 is so operated that after a fewcourses of fabric have been knit rocker I8 moves down onto step 2| andfinger I is swung by spring 23 across the needle circle so that itoverlies the fabric being knit. After a desired amount of additionalfabric has been knit, the length of which is determinable by experimentand which will vary with different yarns and weights of yarn and thecharacter of the knitting, drum I9 is operated so as to permit rocker I8to pass onto the lower step 22 of the cam drum. Thi will cause finger Ito swing in wardly still further thus following the fabric into thecylinder and guiding it downwardly at a small angle. After still morefabric has been knit, drum I9 permits rocker I8 to drop to the surface24 of the drum which allows the full inward swing of finger I as shownin full line in Fig. 1 and also as illustrated in Fig. 4. Of course, thecam on drum 59 may have more or fewer steps so that finger I will followthe lengthening fabric more or less frequently and closely. This is amatter of choice. Two steps have been found to be adequate for thecontrol of the sheerest and lightest fabric.

Since the finger moves in a downwardly inclined direction as it swingsfurther and further into the cylinder, it will be evident that thefabric will be guided downwardly by it and will be unable to bunch atthe top of the cylinder. The elimination of this bunching makes itpossible to knit as loosely as desired and yet produce a loop structureas perfect as that of the other parts of the stocking. Without thisdevice, loose knitting at the beginning of the welt of a sheer stockingis subject to sharp limitations since looser knitting results indistorted fabric as a result of the bunching up of the fabric referredto. In practical terms, this means that the size of a stocking at thetop is determined by the limitations of the machine rather than by therequirements of the wearer.

Assuming that the cylinder rotates in the customary counter-clockwisedirection, surface 29 of finger I is curved, preferably, as shown inFig. 1 so that a convex surface is presented to the fabric which willtend to spread it gently as a further safeguard against bunching.

A novel form of coupling is also utilized in this invention. As shown inFigs. 3, 5 and 6, each end of lever l5, end II, for example, is cut awayto produce a tongue 25 fitted near its tip with a laterally projectingset screw 26. The corresponding end 21 of a connection such as rod I3 isforked so as to pass on either side of tongue 25 suificiently to permitthe ends of the fork to be closed by a pin or roller 28 thus closing thefork around tongue 25. Set screw 26 maintains the coupling and itsremoval permits separation of the coupled parts; without disturbingtheir individual adjustments or proportions.

I claim:

1. In a circular, independent needle, knitting machine having acylinder, means for guiding knitted fabric which includes a fingerhaving a portion projectable into said cylinder across said needlecircle along an arcuate path said finger being adapted to contactknitted fabric and guide it downwardly into said cylinder and prevent itfrom bunching and means for so projectingsaid finger in a plurality ofprogressive, timed steps.

2. In a circular, independent needle, knitting machine having acylinder, means for guiding knitted fabric downwardly within thecylinder as claimed in claim 1 and in which the means for S0 projectingsaid finger includes a drum provided with cams and operating linkagebetween said cams and said finger through which the progressiveprojection of said finger is controlled by said cams as to distance andtime.

EUGENE ST. PIERRE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,148,055 Scott July 2'7, 19151,282,958 Scott Oct. 29, 1918

